1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to multi-processor systems, including but not limited to dual-processor systems.
2. Background
The use of dual-processor designs to achieve energy efficient, fault-tolerant systems is well known. Dual-processor systems are those that contain two separate physical microprocessors in the same chassis (either on the same board or on separate boards). A dual-processor architecture provides several advantages over a single-processor architecture. For example, in a dual-processor system, both processors can work simultaneously but separately on isolated tasks. Such multi-tasking computer power is crucial in processor-intensive applications such as creating, editing and rendering graphics and multimedia files.
In a telecommunication system, such as a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone, a dual-processing architecture may be implemented to minimize latency and jitter in voice communication. An example dual-processor architecture may include a primary central processing unit (CPU) that is configured to handle traditional operating system (OS) and computational tasks and a digital signal processor (DSP) that is configured to process audio signal data. However, in order for two disparate, separated and/or isolated processors to work together cooperatively, a reliable means for the processors to communicate with each other must be provided.